by portbyro | Aug 9, 2025 | Uncategorized
This kind of fits with our yearlong look at all things canals, I hope. In past articles, I have written about how the route of the Erie Canal was changed in the village of Port Byron in 1857/58 during the canal enlargement of 1836-1862. For the village businesses that...
by portbyro | Jun 10, 2025 | Uncategorized
The Old Mentz Heritage Center Family Project has been created by merging previously existing projects from the Montezuma Historical Society and Lock 52 Historical Society who merged in 2024. Because these projects were created on different platforms, merging them...
by portbyro | May 23, 2025 | Uncategorized
Are you setting out on your journey to climb your family tree? If you live down the street or on the other side of the world, there are many resources to help you find your ancestors. Here are some of our favorite places to look. And, although our focus is on local...
by portbyro | Apr 11, 2025 | Uncategorized
The year of 2025 is the bicentennial of the opening of the full canal on October 26, 1825. However, for us here in Cayuga County, the canal had opened in 1820 when the 98 miles of canal between Utica and Montezuma had opened for business in the spring of 1820. To help...
by portbyro | Mar 26, 2025 | Uncategorized
Back in 2008 or ’09, the Cayuga County Records Retention department went through and digitized many of their records, and then decided to toss all the original books. Happily they offered the original paper tax rolls to any town historian that may want them, so...